Avondale Residents Come Together to Discuss Options for Avondale Middle and High

Community members, parents and concerned alumni gathered at a special community meeting Friday night to discuss the proposed closures of Avondale High and Middle schools.

They met with school board members Donna Edler and Sarah Copelin-Wood in a special meeting called by Avondale Estates Mayor Pro Tem David Milliron.

Both schools are on the chopping block under a proposal by DeKalb County Schools Interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson, who unveiled her recommendations earlier this month. 

Some of the topics under discussion included turning Avondale High School into a conversion charter school, a magnet high school or a theme school to complement the Museum School of Avondale Estates. 

Emotions and opinions were mixed. Some were upset that Avondale Middle would close even though it's a newer school and viable real estate.

Others wished for Avondale High School to close so that the system can start with a blank slate. However, several current and past students were passionate about Avondale High's rich history as one of the oldest in the school system and they did not want to see the school disappear. 

Here is what some of the attendees said:

- Imaan Watts, an Avondale High School senior, said, "We want to be able to have something to come back to. If ya'll close our school, we will not have something to come back to."

- Jada Henderson, an Avondale High School senior, who was accepted to Hampton University, said, "We're proof that Avondale High School still has hope. We want our school to stay."

- Estelle Ford-Williamson, a North Avondale resident from the unincorporated DeKalb section, lives near Avondale Middle School, said, "The $24 million school completely changed the neighborhood we live in. It is a beautiful school and now it will be empty."

- Jill Forte, whose daughter is a senior at Avondale High, said, the school has a "rich history of excellence but it has not been provided resources," and doesn't understand why the school would close yet keep the DeKalb School of the Arts open. "You can't tell me that it's being viewed through the eyes of the children. Maybe it should be the first and only theme high school."

- Lawrence Shaw, an Avondale resident, said, "You can not accomplish these things overnight. I love the fact you say let's keep the school open and try to do all these things. But it can't happen. Not just a couple of weeks before a vote is going to be taken. It's too late right now. We need to have the community come together and figure out. I don't think that dream ends March 7. Maybe we redistrict right now, to make things happen, I'm in support of that. But we need to figure out how to come together."

- Carolyn Chandler, an Avondale resident, said, "Why we're paying for lawyers for people who are being indicted is a thing I don't quite understand. We ought to sell schools to some of the charter schools as opposed to sitting there with empty real estate on their hands. The sale of those could help pay teacher salaries."

- Floyd Burdett, a Dacula resident and 1970 graduate of Avondale High, said if the school closes, it will never be the same if it comes back as something else. "Avondale High School represents a lot in this county. It will break my heart. I don't know that we'll win."

- William Mosely, a Scottdale resident, said, "When you don't have leadership, you don't have discipline, and the priority is supposed to be the kids, and there's no accountability, this is what you get." 

- Marsha Tucker, a Decatur resident whose daughter graduated from Avondale in 2010 and attends Xavier University now, said, "This school has not been given fair chance." She added, "Has anyone thought of combining Avondale Middle and High. I think there's a lot of things [DeKalb} has not considered." 

The DeKalb County school board plans to hold additional hearings to discuss the redistricting and school closures. Those hearings will be on March 1 and 3 at the system's administrative complex off Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Stone Mountain.

The final decision will be made on March 7.